Japan’s Showa Denko likely to prolong Oita cracker shutdown

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--?xml:namespace>Japan’s Showa Denko may push back the restart of its 690,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker in Oita, citing minor problems, a company source said on Thursday.

Market sources said there was a gas leakage at the cracker, but the company source declined comment on the matter.

“We do not know when the cracker will restart,” the company source said.

Showa Denko had shut one of two lines at the cracker on 4 March for furnace repairs and maintenance. The No 1 line was initially slated to resume operations on 31 March.

The No 2 line was also shut for the same reason on 13 March and was originally supposed to come back on line on 23 March.

Ethylene supply in Asia is expected to tighten if Showa Denko keeps its Oita cracker off line beyond end-March, with crackers in South Korea also undergoing turnarounds this month, market sources said.